Tele-consultation is a Net gain in Kashi’s digital village
VARANASI : A doctor is just a click away for residents of Varanasi’s Gaura, the district’s first digital village. Tele-consultation at the village’s digital centre has made this possible for the people here, giving them relief from non-emergency ailments without having to leave the confines of their hamlet. Gaura village has a population of 2,500.
Take the case of Mala Devi Maurya, a Gaura homemaker in her early 50s who battled anxiety from January to June. Relief came in July when she took expert advice via tele-consultation at the digital centre in the village after being prompted to do so by Sanjay Maurya, the digital village centre head.
Helping Mala overcome her initial hesitation, Sanjay Maurya logged on to the digital village website https://www.digital-village.in/digital-health-services and selected an online physician. Maurya is equipped with a laptop, desktop and wi-fi dongle.
Mala told the doctor, “I suffered from anxiety and nervousness in January. I visited a doctor at a town nearby. The doctor prescribed medicines and advised me rest. I took medicines for five days and got relief. But the anxiety and nervousness returned a few days later.”
On the doctor’s instructions, Maurya measured Mala’s the blood pressure and pulse rate. Thereafter, the doctor prescribed some medicines and she has felt much better ever since she started taking them regularly. Mala also said, “I got relief. For the last two months, I have been fine. I got advice near my doorstep.”
Tele-consultation is a boon for
the locals because they get advice of experts at their village itself. The prescription slip reaches the digital account of the centre and a printout is given to the patient.
DIGITAL HEALTH SERVICES
Tele-consultation is a form of primary care, where the patient seeks the doctor’s advice at digital village centre about nonemergency medical problems, which don’t require the doctor’s immediate visit to the location. It doesn’t replace face-to-face consultation when it is needed, but complements it.
“In the last two months, around 40 people took advice from doctors through tele-consultation under the digital health service, which is part of the digital village programme,” Sanjay Maurya said.
He added that tele-consultation was a boon for the locals because they got online advice from experts in Ayurveda, homeopathy and allopathy at the village itself. Once the doctors gives advice, the prescription slip reaches the centre’s digital account and a printout is given to the person. The patient is then provided free medicine. If a prescribed medicine is not available, then patient is asked to pur
chase from a medical store.
Sunita Maurya, another homemaker, had back ache for the last two years. She consulted a doctor through digital centre around a month ago. At present, she is under-treatment.
Sanjay Maurya said he told all 593 families in the village about tele-consultation and other facilities available at the digital centre, also known as CSC (common service centre).
“If any patient cannot come to the digital centre, I, along with a multi-test portable machine, reach his/her house and get her connected to the physician online. I note down the prescription given by the doctor and hand over the slip to the patient. His kin buy them (medicines),” he explained. Locals and people from adjoining villages also visit the centre to get Aadhaar cards made.
Sanjay Maurya said the centre was a one-stop service solution for residents of the digital village and adjoining villages. It provides them with telemedicine, internet connectivity and other services. The centre also acts as a platform for imparting skill development training to local youths. Eight digital solar lights have also been installed in the villages.